


How does someone like you have things I don't

by Danganrose



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Bits of fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Other, Touch-Starved, none of this is gonna end welllll
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-05-16 16:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danganrose/pseuds/Danganrose
Summary: It was easy to get lost in the crowed underground station in Tokyo. People walking in every direction, like traffic, trains crowded, people shoved unceremoniously into train cars. For Goro, the whole hustle of it was a nice distraction. It was a system that he could get into easily and lose himself in the rhythm of it all. It was much easier to be out of the world than be in it.





	1. Chapter one-Unfair

**Author's Note:**

> Okay real talk I wrote this before the episode in the anime came out with Goro looking at Akira and Ryuji in the subway car. So when that scene came up I had a heart attack. I should drop out of school and get a job as a physic.
> 
> Light spoilers for the game, aka the school festival 
> 
> You’ll understand once you read it- anyways enjoy!

 

It was easy to get lost in the crowed underground station in Tokyo. People walking in every direction, like traffic, trains crowded, people shoved unceremoniously into train cars. For Goro, the whole hustle of it was a nice distraction. It was a system that he could get into easily and lose himself in the rhythm of it all. It was much easier to be out of the world than be in it. 

Unfortunately for him he’s received a few dirty looks since entering the underground station- probably people who were against him ever since the hacker group, medjed, seemed to have been taken care of by the phantom thieves as well.

Alas, what can he do.

His eyes drift towards the packed train car in front of him. Two Shujin students are talking to each-other. 

One of them he recognizes immediately, he couldn’t forget your face anytime soon. You were talking to the person he loathed- for many reasons more than one. Large glasses that didn’t seem to have a prescription in them, and hair. Oddly styled hair-messy.

Was Akira’s hair messy? Or was it styled to look that way? From his slouched back you might assume it’s out of negligence but his clothes seem too crisp, clean, and well ironed to jump to that conclusion.

Goro knitted his brows,  _That’s unfair. Something as simple as his hair can make you consider the depth of him in so many different ways. Consider what really is the truth- and no one will ever truly know what is the truth._

Your eyes find Goro, which snaps him out of his internal monologue. “Akechi!”

He waves, which is meet with the chime to signal the doors closing. 

Now what he doesn’t expect is your hand shooting out, forcefully dragging the boy into the over-packed subway car. 

“Wh-”

Goro nearly looses his balance, his suitcase whacking against someone, practically tripping into you. The doors shut instantly behind him and there’s this horrifying moment where everyone in the subway car leans into one another, uncomfortably. His hand scrambles for leverage, and eventually finds a shoulder of some kind, as another hand grabs the back end of his coat to help him lean back against the closed door. Apologies murmur out of his mouth, as the whole car gives a disgruntled rumble.

“Sorry about that.” It’s you, standing close to him still (it’s not that you really  _like_ to, it’s just there’s no more space in the cramped subway.) “I just…acted on instinct I guess, hah.”

Goro manages to recover quickly, sweeping hair out of his eyes with his free hand. “It’s…alright, it just surprised me a bit.”

“You didn’t need to be  _that_ forceful, s/o.” The man next to you says, at the same time releasing Goro’s shoulder.

The voice makes his teeth clench, he bites it back and pulls the muscles into the best smile he can.. “Oh, you must be Akira Kurusu.” -Stretching the sides of his mouth until it hurts- 

“Mhm. You’re Akechi from the T.V studio, and like, all over the news.” Akira smiles. “Pretty hard  _not_ to know who you are at this point.” 

“I suppose so…” he changes the subject. “S/o has talked about you before.”

Akira looks towards him, the ends of his mouth curving slightly. “Oh,” then turning to look at you, “ _Really_?” 

You smack the boy’s shoulder, who’s hand’s fly out of his pockets to grab onto the railing for support. “Hey now- no need to be so mean.”

Goro wants to disappear . Just end him now, anything would be better than seeing this subtle flirting going on between you two.

He sneaks a glance up towards the ceiling. The route this train is taking is the one he’s not supposed to be on, he’ll have to get off at the next stop. “You two are heading to school I suppose?” He asks- anything to stop the conversation you and Akira continue to have.

“Huh? Oh-yeah.” you say, pointing to your bag. “Me and Akira take the subway together in the morning.”

“I see.” he hums. Jealousy claws at his chest. Why.

Why does everything seem to fall in favor for  _him._

 The announcer comes on, informing them that they’ll be ariving at the next station momentarily. “Well I best be going…I’m actually not on the right train-”

“Oh really?” Guilt is imminent on your face. “I’m so sorry I had no idea-”

“It’s quite alri-”

The doors open, and Akechi is forced to be swept away by the crowd, the words dying in his throat. 

The doors shut soon after, and in a whipping of air the train is gone. 

Akechi shuts his mouth, and bites his cheek.

That’s all there is to it.

—-

He tries to put you out of his mind. Away, locked in box in the basement of his mind that he dares not go to. 

It would be okay most days- he’d hide his thoughts from it and sink further in the dark ocean that was his mind. The harder days were when he saw you two, always together at the train station- laughing, smiling.

Teenagers having a good time. Everyone was out there having a good life except for him.

 It got to the point where he was taking the long way to get to school- to not run the risk of seeing you or Akira.

As a result his investigation on the phantom thieves had bubbled to a standstill. It was a little difficult to investigate the people who you were trying to avoid.

 He was doing a good job of it too, that was until Sae’s younger sister contacted him, inviting him to the school festival as the guest speaker.

He remembers wanting to say no, he could come up with tons of reasons why he’s busy. 

Then the next thing he knows, he’s saying yes, and immediately wants to throw his phone against the wall.

He’s an idiot, for taking this on- he’ll see you for sure when he goes. He’ll have to face the music and explain why he hasn’t been texting you back or responding to anything you say. It was supid, why did he do it?

Oh he knows exactly why he did that, the little voice in his mind says. He shuts it up, grouchily turning in bed and throwing a pillow on top of his head.

He knows why, he’s known for a long time now-

He just refuses to accept it.

—

“Oh, everyone’s all here.”

He tosses a stray ribbon from his shoulder as he walks up to the gawking group sat at the table. Everyone stares at him with either contempt (Ryuji, Futaba, Yusuke) shock (Makoto, Haru, Ann) or curiosity, ( Akira) or….something he can’t quite place (Yourself)

Speaking of which, Akira and yourself are sitting next to eachother. Goro locks eyes with you for a split second before turning away. The bag in your lap rustles slightly.

“T-the panel isn’t until tomorrow though…” Makoto mumbles, knuckles clutching the edge of her chair. Shes bad under pressure, Akechi thinks.

Well, certain types of pressure.

“He can come if he wants to…” You mumble back, side-eyeing Sae’s sister.

“I came to check out the venue-” He begins.

“Venue, huh….” There’s nothing to your voice, no spite, no emotion, it’s flat. To be honest, he’d rather have you yell at him- he deserves it.

“I can’t make any mistakes after all.” he finishes. “A lot of people will be preassent.

He ignores the comments Ryuji and Futaba murmur about him. In an attempt to assert himself he reaches out for the red Takoyaki ball.

Now that he thinks back to it, he should have known it was spicy.

He eats it whole, and his world explodes in flames.

“A-are you okay?! Do you need water?!” Ann fretts.

“I-i-im fine! I just love- uh- love spicy- spicy stuff…” He coughs, it feels like he’s experiencing 100 heart burns at once now.

Despite everything, the whole group’s expression has softened, you’re trying to hide a smile that curls around your hand. Even Futaba and Ryuji are smilling at his suffering.

Hah.

“Well then I’ll! S-see you t-t-t-tomorrow!!” He turns sharply and stumbles off, not bothering to make it out of the door before he’s running.

—

 _Fuck Russia._ he thinks, gargling water in the back of the school  _Them making spicy food._

Now he’s rinsing his mouth with water that just heightens his pain, and spitting it back into the grass. People have shot him looks passing by, but there’s nothing that can be done.

“Hey.” there’s a shadow above him, looking up he’s met with you, full uniform. He has to say- red and black look splendid on you.

“Ah-” He tries to say something but his tongue fills his mouth and he resorts to panting, like a dog.

You place a carton of milk in his hand. Probably one from the vending machines. “Drink it, it’ll help.”

He’d be worried about how much of a mess he looks- water dribbling down his coat if it wasn’t for the fact that his mouth was still on fire. You take a seat next to him and it isn’t until he finishes the carton and has the breath to say “Thank you.” that you talk again.

“So-  _Venue?_ ”

“What about it?” 

You shake your head, knees tucked under your butt. “Nothing, I guess there is nothing.”

There’s silence, for a long while he thinks you’re gonna get up and leave.

“Why, Akechi.”

“Come again?”

“Why do you do this to me?” your voice is weaker, splintering like thin wood. 

“Do wha-”

“Stop  _fucking_ with me Akechi.” You’re not calling him by his name.

“I’m sorry for being busy…work with the phantom thieves has been-”

“Its not about the fact that you’re busy!” You plead. “You don’t talk to me! Never! I feel like I’m talking to a ghost- I haven’t seen you in months, I found out through Makoto you were coming to visit.”

Guilt courses through him. It was all for the best, he thought you’d be happier this way, at the very least you be better off without worrying about him.

“-and when you do show up, all you have to say is that you’re checking out the venue. No hello.” Broken, sad words. “Do I even mean anything to you, Akechi.”

 _More than you imagine_ , the voice in his head says.

“S/o.” he starts carefully. “I know I haven’t been there a lot. I’m sorry… I know that must have made you feel….unwanted, believe me I know a thing or two about it…as for why I did it well…”

_You deserve better, better off with hot-as-fuck-Akira and crawl up to the attic that is his room as he pushes you onto your bed and fu-_

The idea of you and Akira having sex makes him want to puke.

“…a motivation of…madness, lets say…” he gulps.

You’re looking at him, eyes pleading with him. “Akechi, Goro, we’re friends, right?”

“If that’s what you want us to be.”

“No, is it what  _you_ want it tobe? Or do you just not give a fuck-”

“I care, s/o, more than you imagine, I think.”

You close your mouth, hands clenching. “Goro I really want to be your friend.”

“I want to be your friend as well, admittedly I don’t think I’m the best but…if you’ll have me then I’m happy.”

You held out your hand, he took it, shaking it as if sealing a contact. 

You sighed, leaning up against the school building. “I’m sorry for cursing at you.”

“And I’m sorry for ignoring you.” _Because I was jealous of you and Akira being so close to each other_

You smilled. Oh so brightly smiled. “Please text me, Goro.”

He nodded, “I shall.” 

Not I shall try, or I will keep that in mind. But a promise.

Akechi isn’t good on meaning the things he says. He just hopes, he’s saying what he really means, this time around.


	2. Chapter 2- The panel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her last words, before, now that you look back on it, was the last moment before you would pretend that everything was okay, that you could continue attempting cracking the ice-tough detective without any fears of something sinister hiding underneath Goro Akechi’s mask.

Makoto took a deep breath, pulling herself fully upright as she brought the microphone to her mouth, “Well then, we will now begin today’s panel. Our guest of honor is Goro Akechi.”

A bright spotlight reigned down on the detective in center stage, who gestured  with his gloved hand, smiling. “I feel kind of bad considering how many people have gathered….I’m sure you all would’ve been happier to have a singer or mascot appear, wouldn’t you say?”

 The crowd laughed, as Makoto continued, with more confidence. “We’d appreciate it if you could tell us about your experiences with the notorious Phantom Thieves.” She copied Akechi, turning up charm to the max and lathering on her words like honey, “It’d be  _wonderful_ if you could let us hear more about your actual investigative process.”

Akechi leaned on the podium in front of him, not one to lose he put on his own sweet-tooth smile. “I’m not used to being the one interrogated…so please go easy on me.”

Once again, the crowd laughed, Akechi had a way with people you knew that for sure.

“…How much do you think he knows.” Ann whispered to your group, up in the rafters. Below sitting in the crowd you could see the floofy hair of Haru and the blazing head of orange hair that was Futaba, sitting in her same frog-crouched position. The two had managed to grab two seats in the packed auditorium- Goro Akechi had literally sold out the gym. Ann had managed to snag a key to the rafters from a male who worked for the drama club, the 5 of you creeping quietly as to not attract any attention- it was highly likely the rafters were off-limits, that didn’t stop you all from positioning yourself with a good view of the stage. she nearly throttled Ryuji when he tripped on the stairs, causing the smack of metal against skin to vibrate throughout the hall. Luckily, with how loud the gym was at the time and how focused everyone was looking on stage, waiting for Akechi to show, you all managed to sneak up without being spotted. 

“Either he has an idea who the true culprit is, or…he has uncovered the identities of the Phantom Thieves.” Yusuke mumbled, 

Ryuji leaned on the railing, beside Ann. Apparently they didn’t care about being seen anymore. “C’mon Makoto….! You gotta get it outta him….!”

Yes, Makoto was under a lot of pressure. She was tasked with prying information about the phantom thieves out of Akechi, despite that fact that you were a friend of Akechi, you wouldn’t want to go head to head with him in a situation like this- this was  _his_ stage. 

“As much as you’re allowed to say, would you tell us how far along your investigation is on them?” Makoto continued.

“Getting right to the point, I see.” Akechi commented. 

You made a slight ‘tsk’ sound. Akechi was cocky, and pointed out every single thing Makoto did and why, just in a different, roundabout way.

You had a bad feeling, thing’s weren’t going to end well. 

“Well, if it’s as much as I’m allowed to say, then everything on TV and the internet is all of it. We don’t have any leads yet, and the methods behind their crimes are still unclear.”

“I see…Even with this country’s power, arresting them is proving to be difficult….is that the case?” Makoto asked.

Akechi turned it over in his mind. “I wouldn’t phrase it that way…but well, something like that.”

“Something like that my ass.” you growled. The police had nothing, you knew that for a fact. If, and only if, they had something- it would have to be from Akechi. 

For that one, one reason, because of his one comment.

“Thank you for answering that question.” Makoto hummed, voice sweet like a child’s. Alright, at the very least you all know that the police can’t arrest the thieves at the moment, without fabricating piles of evidence and having fake witnesses. “…By the way, it seems you’ve denied a correlation between the Phantom Thieves and the murders…Why the sudden change? Until now, haven’t you upheld your stance that the Phantom thieves are dangerous? How are you so positive that they haven’t committed murder?”

Akechi breaks into his TV- oriented smile. “Aren’t you a little too comfortable interrogating people? Why, it’s as if you’re a prosecutor.” An attempt to derail the conversation and also stabbing at the fact that she’s acting like her obviously corrupted-sister. A disguised low blow.

The crowd laughed, god they must be tired of it by now. 

Makoto flushed slightly, embarrassed and a twinge of bitterness making her brow crease in the slightest as she closed her eyes. “Ah, excuse me. This is something I’ve personally been interested in so I couldn’t help it…” She opened her eyes, focusing on Goro. “But won’t you tell us…?”

'Atta girl Makoto, keep up the heat.

“What reason is there that you’d claim their innocence when you previously stated they were unjust?”

Akechi turned to the audience for the first time since the interview started. “Every person whose heart they changed have truly been criminals, including Okumura. Why then, was he the only one who needed to be killed?”

“Why is that?” Makoto smiled, throwing the question back at him. That was the best way to do it, never put in your statement, just keep asking the same things out of the person to avoid them trying to interrogate you.

It was like watching two lions fight. Makoto and Goro both looking for the other to slip up and to gain the upper-hand.

Akechi looked forlorn, “I must admit…I couldn’t deduce a reason. That’s why I believe that case should be through of as if a different party is responsible.”

He leaned back off of the podium, the same natural look plastered on his face, “And if- This is all hypothetical, mind you, If the Phantom Thieves are the ones  _I_ know of, I can’t possible imagine they would kill anyone.”

A cry of shock rang throughout the auditorium, you felt a stone drop in your stomach. Down below you saw Futaba’s hair whip towards Akechi. Beside you, Yusuke tightened the grip on his arm, gnawing on his lip.

Makoto, startled, stuttered back into character. “Y-your comment just now…Does this mean the police have already identified who they are?”

“ _Dammit, fuck!_ ” you felt like punching the wall. If this conversation continued…

Akechi frowned, but you knew he was really smiling, he realized it too, Makoto had fallen into his trap. “Oh, no. The  _police_ haven’t gotten that far yet.”

He paused, to let the audience laugh, before turning to look directly at those standing in the rafters.

_“But I have my own conclusions about the true identities of the Phantom Thieves. "_

Your blood ran cold. 

“He’s gotta be bluffin’!” Ryuji barked, slamming his hands on the railing.

Ann smacked his arm, “ _Pipe down_!”

Haru and Futaba were huddled together, mumbling. Makoto had a dear-in-headlights look, her brain frantically trying to say something that could steer the conversation off course.

Akechi smiled, barely hiding pride. The lion was defeating the lioness. “ _You’re not going to ask me who they are…?_ ” He asked oh-so-innocently. At this point he was just daring her to try him. ‘Do it, weren’t you so confident in getting information out of me? Where did that honey-like smile go?’

“He’s just playing her like a fiddle.” you mumbled to yourself. It was hard to believe this was the same guy who less than 24 hours ago, was talking in the courtyard with you about being friends, how he wanted to be friends, how he wasn’t used to being friends with people.

You wonder how much of it was fake, could be fake.

Ann gripped the railing so hard it made a noise.

“…it may have repercussions on the investigation. Are you sure you can share that with us?” Makoto was not even trying to hide her glare. She was frustrated. 

Akechi raised his chin, “It’s only my personal opinion, so announcing that here wouldn’t pose a problem.”

“However….” He continued. 

While looking at Makoto, his eyes momentarily drifted back again towards the rafters, he locked eyes with you for a moment and you help your breath until he looked away. 

“…There is a possibility that everyone present will hear the truth before the police or media…

“The truth…?” Ann whispered, fear lacing her words.

Makoto huffed,“That’s quite the confidence you have….if you’re so certain…then very well….”

She took a breath, steeling herself. Once she asks this, there was the high probability Goro would call her out right then and there, in front of the crowd. If that happened she needed to be ready, to act, to deal with the situation in any means necessary. 

Her last words, before, now that you look back on it, was the last moment before you would pretend that everything was okay, that you could continue attempting cracking the ice-tough detective without any fears of something sinister hiding underneath Goro Akechi’s mask.

She opened her mouth. 

“I’d like to ask you then:  _Who_ do you think the Phantom Thieves are, Akechi-san?”

_Akechi-san,_  the lioness is wounded is trying her best to soften the blow she know will kill her.

“That, idiot!” Ryuji hissed.

“No, Ryuji,” You murmured, tugging his arm. “She had  _no choice_ , you have to know that.”

He met your eyes, you and Ryuji had been through a lot- being your first friend since you got to Shujin, besides Ann, and eventually Akira. He respected you, unlike Ann who he always bickered with, he always tried his best to please you. Taking you out to eat, friendly talks between classes- nothing there was ever implied to be more than friends, and you both were okay with that.

He sighed, rubbing his eyes with his palm, he’s just scared, and you know that, understand that.

“No…there’s no way he could have any evidence.” Yusuke mumbled in terror.

You’re not so sure you believe that now.

“They’re people you all know quite well.” Akechi started. “The identity of the Phantom Thieves are-”

Almost comically and to the relief of your group, Akechi’s phone rang.

He pulled it out, “Oh, it’s mine. I apologize for the interruption, but I can’t turn off my phone due to my job….would you mind if I step away for about…ten minutes or so…?”

“I’m terribly sorry, everyone, but we’ll be taking a break.” Makoto said, trying to keep the relief out of her voice. “We’ll resume the panel in ten minutes.”

Akechi pocketed his phone, grinning. “Please don’t troll me online for this interuption, ok?” 

For some reason, you felt the strong urge to go online and do just that.

Akechi bowed, and then walked over to Makoto. The two of them exchanged a few words. Akechi moved behind the girl, whispering something in her ear.

For some reason, you felt the hairs on your arm stand up, your teeth clench tighter.

Makoto gave Akechi a side-eye glare, biting her lip before the two disappeared behind the curtain.

“H-hey, it’s Makoto.” Ann mumbled, motioning to the  _IM_ app on her phone. You checked on your own as well,

_**Makoto, 2:47pm**_ : P.E faculty office. Now. Everyone.

“Dammit!” Ryuji mumbled, rubbing his head. “It’s that damn Akechi!”

“What should we do…?” Ann murmured in a trance-like state. 

Akira, who hadn’t said anything since the panel started, finally spoke up. “I think, we should be on guard.”

Yusuke shivered, the lanky boy had probably burned all of his calories out of fear by now. 

Below you, Haru and Futaba were squeezing past people in the rows to get out of the gym. 

“We only have 10 minutes, we should hurry.” Akira said. Yusuke, Ann and Ryuji all hurried down the stairs, legs shaking. You stayed behind to wait for Akira, who was still standing, looking at the stage, the gleam from his glasses hid most of his face.

“Kurusu…?” You called out. He snapped his head towards you. “We should go.”

“Right.” He nodded, following you down the stairs, pushing the double doors and out into the blinding light of the sun.

—

Akechi slapped down three photos on the table. From the cries of Haru and Ryuji, you knew the plan of ‘trying not to look suspicious while Akechi interrogates us’ flew out the window with any other logical thoughts.

“ _Please_ , let’s not feign ignorance.” Akechi purred. Goddammit did his voice find a way into your blood, you shivered again. “All of you can go to that other world too, yes?”

Akira stepped up, as the leader, picking up his broken team in his own hands. “What do you mean, ‘us too’?”

Akechi smiled, “It’s not just all of you. I am aware of that world too…” 

Hidden behind a stack of boxes, you could see the tuffs of Morgana’s fur. He was sleeping on the grass while the panel was going on (Ryuji almost stepped on his tail while rushing out of the gym) and you all informed him of what had happened on the way to the office. 

_“What? He was about to reveal the identities of the phantom thieves?” Morgana’s tiny voice cried, running to keep up with everyone power-walking.  
_

_“Yeah, now we’re in deep shit.” Ryuji cursed, trying to calm his nerves._

_“Well, what’s done is done, all we can do is try to either play dumb or work out a deal.” Akira mumbled._

Morgana’s tail twitched, left to right and back again.

“I found out about that world a month ago.” Aekchi stated, pulling his phone to show the currant-red eye of the Navigation app. “This had been installed onto my phone without my knowledge.”

You winced, Akira hummed, Morgana’s tail flicked up, once.

You sincerely, sincerely, sincerely hoped you were wrong, but even so, you can’t hide the fact that the evidence is looking right at you in the face. 

No one else, except for 3 out of the group seem to have realized it.

Ryuji rolled his arm, grabbing his shoulder, as if he was going to fight. “We’ve been listenin’ to you blab on for a while now, but cut the delusional-”

Akechi shut him down promptly, “All of you are acting as Phantom Thieves in the Metaverse. I can say so with conviction because I have the same power as you.”

Everyone was quiet and tense for a moment, no one no knowing or wanting to say anything.

“That’s right.” Akira spoke up, his hands taken out of his pockets. “And what now?”

“So, you don’t deny it then.” Akechi hummed. “To be honest, I’ve been curious about you since the time of the Madarame case.”

“We didn’t kill anyone!” Haru gave a shrill cry. Of course she’d feel the need to say that, it was her own father that was killed after all.

“I believe that, as well.” Akechi confirmed. He seemed like he was telling the truth, at least. 

Makoto cradled her hands nervously, “How can you be  _so sure_?” 

And Akechi was willing to answer that as well.“Because I saw another- the real culprit.”

Instantly, everyone in the group recoiled. Shock and fear turned into anger, this was the person that was framing the Phantom Thieves, intentionally or not, for murder. 

Akechi hushed any outcries. “I couldn’t identify his face…he had a mask on, after all.”

“He?” You questioned, speaking Akechi for the first time since the day before. “So you know this person is a male.

Akechi winced, it was so small that it only looked as if his eye was twitching but it was there nonetheless, then collecting himself, answered. “Yes, from his figure I could assume it was male.”

He cradled his head, face scrunched as the retold his story. “Actually, when I took these photos, I entered that world too. That’s when I saw someone else moving about, besides all of you….He shot at me the moment he noticed me.”

Yusuke folded his arms, shifting his position. “That’s who killed president Okumura?”

Akechi removed his hand, nodding. “Most likely. At the very least,  _I_ was almost killed by him…’I can’t die here, I need to determine the truth.’ When those thoughts overcame me, I awakened to that power- a most fortunate accident.”

And all this happened, a month ago.

“This guy has a persona too…?” you heard Morgana mumble from his position behind the boxes.

Akechi jolted, his eyebrows raised up past the edges of his fringe. “This cat…” 

Morgana’s tail shot up in astonishment.

Goro shook his head. “I-i  _swear_ it just…..talked….!”

Ann spoke up, words flowing out of her in a rushed breath. “Morgana. Our teammate who taught us about the Metaverse.”

Akechi recoiled, before slowly returning, even closer to inspect Morgana. It slowly became more and more difficult to stop yourself from laughing- Goro always acted polished, calm and collected at all times. But when something threw him off guard he’d always try really  _really_ hard to keep his cool, though he wasn’t very good at it, to your humor. 

“Really…? This is unbelievable…” He murmured. “But it is true that you know things that I don’t…”

He cleared his throat, collecting himself to be the TV celebrity he was. “Say, Morgana. Were you also the one who instructed them on how to change people’s hearts?”

Morgana saw no need to stay in hiding he jumped up on the boxes. “We go in the Metaverse- we call them palaces- to steal the core of their desires: their treasure, those who’s treasure are stolen have a change of heart.

Word jumble that you’ve heard what is it…one two-  this is this 6th time now. You extended your arm out to Morgana, his ears flicked forward as he carefully climbed up your arm and came to a rest on your shoulder.

You scratched under Morgana’s chin, causing him to purr. You (Besides Haru, Futaba and maybe Ann if she tried) could pet Morgana like this, like he was an actual cat. Akechi’s eyes met yours for the third time that day, he looked away quickly.

 “…Ah, hahaha…” He chuckled, rubbing his face dejectedly . “There’s certainly no way anyone could figure out such an MO…”

“Anyways!”Ryuji couldn’t take how slow the conversation was moving at, his foot tapping against the tile with vigor.“Back to what you were talkin’ about! Are we in this mess ‘cause of that guy?!”

Akechi turned to Joker, your leader, speaking to the group.

You only half-focused on that , you kept running the calculations in your head, making sure what you were assuming was right. Morgana noticed, hissing(literally). 

“Hey, are you listening, what he said was important.”

“Yeah.” You mumbled back, ruffling his fur. He yelped, along with Ryuji and Ann both freaking out over blackmail and the threat with being arrested. 

Akira sighed, removing his glasses to rub the grime from the lenses. “You’re asking a lot.”

Akechi frowned in return. “I see…I don’t think it’s a bad deal though….well.” he smiled, one that seemed to spring naturally from his mouth. “Considering this is you we’re talking about. I believe you’ll come to a favorable reply.

The smile was short lived, it was quickly replaced with 100% pure synthetic Akechi smile in a short second. “I’m glad we could talk. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend such a meaningful time like this.”

His words were meant to be ones of praise, but to you they just felt like slaps to the face. As if he was implying his time with you had been-

_Meaningless_.

‘This line of thought meaningless’ you thought.

“We should be getting back.” Akechi pointed out, observing his phone. He spoke to Makoto, brows furrowing in regret. “About that…I’m sorry, would it be acceptable if we ended the panel here…?”

Then he broke into a smile fitting for a cat like Morgana. “The reason why you called for me in the first place was because you wanted Intel,correct?”  He seemed passive-aggressive towards Makoto and from the look he gave him back, you assumed this would be another ongoing thing, like Ryuji and Morgana, great. 

Another tally for Akechi, he’s winning against the Phantom Thieves 1000-1.

“Ill deal with it somehow.” She finally said, seeming relieved to just be done with the situation. She held her hands, when you looked down you noticed- they were shaking.

Makoto Nijima was just as scared as everyone else.

Akechi walked past the group,not bothering to formally conclude things, or maybe he just didn’t know how to. 

He stopped to whisper in your ear on the way out, “I look forward to your answer.”

Morgana’s fur bristled, you locked eyes with Akechi, hoping to get some reason or clue from his eyes, anything that might change your mind-

Nothing, absolutely wiped and blank. 

He left the room.

Ryuji stomped his foot in rage. “Dammit! He had complete control over us!” the fear that seeped into his voice was evident. You tried to reach out for him, to help him but he stormed out of the room, slamming the door before you could get the chance. You made a mental note to go run with him to help burn off his adrenaline later.

No one had the strength to say anything else, with heavy hearts, everyone slowly filed out of the office. 

You, Akira and Morgana remained in the room.

“Hey, they’re going…” Morgana hoped down from your shoulder, voice somber. The cat sighed, shaking his head.

Akira looked at you, you both knew what each-other was thinking. It was pity. Pity because your so called friend, the one you tried to be friends with, the one Akira  _knew_ you had feelings for was-

Morgana’s tail swished, sadly. 

“You realized it too, then.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We dip into the conflict the reader is going thorough, and it only goes downhill from here, buckle in.
> 
> As always, Kudos, comments and feedback is always appreciated <3 thank you for reading!


	3. Vibe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're anxious about meeting with Akechi the next day, you decide to spend time with Akira and Ryuji to help quell it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the amount of time this took to update! i really enjoyed writing this, though.

“Did Makoto just send a message to the group chat?” She asked, laying on her back, her orange hair fanning out. 

“Yeah.” You opened the group chat and your heart skipped a beat at the name.

Makoto: **I got a message from Akechi-kun.**

Makoto:  **He wants us to gather at Leblanc tomorrow after school.**

“What!?” Futaba in real life said, sitting up and furiously tapping. 

Instantly everyone was typing at once, but Futaba, (being the most skilled a this sort of thing, responded first. 

Futaba:  **Who does he think he is, trying to boss us around like that!?**

Though Haru wasn’t the best with technology she kept her texts short and to the point.

Haru:  **Tomorrow…? That’s sudden.**

Yusuke:  **This is directly after the reward announcement. There must be a calculated reason for this too.**

You:  **^^**

Ann:  **We’ll be okay right?**

Akira:  **We’ll manage.**  

Haru:  **Yeah we’re going to overcome this, together.**

Makoto:  **Regardless, I don’t want anyone disturbing our pace anymore.**  

Makoto:  **Let’s go about this calmly. Well, see you all tomorrow.**

It didn’t seem like Ryuji saw the news yet, either that or he didn’t have the words to deal with Akechi. You put your phone down.

“That Akechi….” Futaba muttered, rolling off of her bed to slide into her computer chair. “Always…high and mighty.” She continued to mumble things under her breath, typing away furiously into her computer. 

Your phone buzzed, again, once from Akechi and another from Ryuji.

Akechi: I assumed you heard the news from Niijima-san yes?

Akechi: Ah, Makoto Niijima that is.

You: Yeah, guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. 

Akechi: Yes, just wanted to let you know, I’ll see you tomorrow.

You: One more thing, Akechi

Akechi: Yes?

You: What’s your deal? What does this mean?

Akechi: I’m certain you’ll find that out tomorrow.

He was offline, you didn’t bother trying to get more out of him. You sighed, Akechi was difficult, first calling you out as a phantom thief and then going about pretending things were okay between you two. You had wanted for the two of you to be friends, not for him to just use you to accomplish his task, whatever it was. Was he good or was he bad? Did he really believe that much in his sense of justice to overlook them or not. Or perhaps he had a different motive, and everything you’d been working up to was just for him to use you as a stepping stone.

The only thing you could conclude in the end was that you didn’t know anything about Goro Akechi, the man that you-

Ryuji was texting you non-stop, thirteen messages and counting. 

Ryuji: **(name)**

Ryuji: **(name)**

Ryuji: **(name)**

You:  **why are you writing ‘name’ over and over?**

Ryuji:  **Something Futaba taught me, if ya put it like (name) the person reading it will automatically put in their own name**

Ryuji:  **Please tell me you said your name reading it**

You:  **No**  

Ryuji:  **Aw**

You:  **What’s up, why the need for 30 texts?**

Ryuji: **I need and 2 do somethin, can you meet up?**

You:  **It’s almost 10 and there’s school tomorrow.**

Ryuji:  **Skip.**

You: **I never said no**

You:  **ofc i wanna go, let’s do this**

You:  **i wont be able to go to school with the whole akechi thing.**

Ryuji:  **Yeah that’s why I wanna get out, you’re at Futaba’s right? Can she come with?**

You:  **Idk**

“Futaba wanna hang out with Ryuji and me?”

She spun around in her chair, stopping the clicking of her keys. “Like now? It’s 10-”

“Yeah we know, that’s the whole point.”

She bit her lip, “Not to be rude but, I don’t think I’m ready to handle sneaking out at night and being with friends, sorry.” She paused. “Take Akira with you though, I’ll cover for all of you, it’s the least I can do.”

You texted Akira. 

You:  **Get your ass up we’re picking u up in 10.**

Akira:  **but, morgana**

You didn’t even bother to question the fact that he was on board already. It was just the inner rebel in him. 

“Futaba can you watch morgana for the night?”

“Yeah, sure.”

You:  **Send him over to Futaba’s. And be ready !**

Now back to Ryuji

You:  **Ryuji meet at Leblanc in like idk 10 or 20**

Ryuji: **I’ll make it in 5.**

You:  **Bet.**

You shut your phone off, grabbing your stuff and heading for the door. “Thanks, Futaba.” 

She waved her hand, not once turning away from her screen. “You owe me one.”

You crept down the stairs, noticing Sojiro passed out on the couch with the T.V on. You were pulling your shoes on when the door opened and Morgana padded in.

“Is futaba upstairs?”  
“Yeah.”   
“I know you guys are doing, I wouldn’t do - if there’s ever a time not to draw suspicion on us it’s now.”

You pursed your lips, you knew morgana was right. With 30 million yen for your heads and potential death awaiting if you messed up.

“I need to act like a normal person for one night at least. Especially since.”

Akechi. Your charming knight Akechi that you want more than anything to just grab with your hands and-

Morgana’s fur bristled, he knew he couldn’t bring himself to dampen your spirits even further.

“Just…be safe.” He walked past you, tail swishing as he climbed up of the stairs.

You threw on a coat, hoping you wouldn’t have to break that promise as you slipped out into the night.

—

Half an hour later you, Ryuji and Akira were walking by the fishing under streetlight. The moon cast beams of light to reflect off of the water, neon hazes from the distance were seen over top of buildings as all of Tokyo seemed to be quiet. Akira and Ryuji pushed together a makeshift table with various crates as the three of you sat down to talk.

“Arg stupid effin fish!” Ryuji cursed, reeling in his line for the umpteenth time, bait gone, no fish.

Akira had his hand in his palm, trying not to laugh, failing as he shoulders shook with each time Ryuji came up empty handed. 

Finally Ryuji stomped off, angrily putting his rod away before nearly falling off of the crate as he sat back down. “Why do I have the worst luck?”

“It’s all about patience.” you softly spoke, holding your fishing rod between your thighs. 

“Well I don’t have any, and if I did I wouldn’t spend it on amphibians.”  
“Fish aren’t amphibians, they’re just fish.”

Ryuji reddened, cursing as Akira snorted. His line bobbed, and he picked up his rod, reeling in a treasure trout. 

Ryuji’s eye twitched, you whistled. “Is that lunch for tomorrow?”

“I’ll salt it then give it to Akechi when he comes over.” Akira smiled, yet unhooked the fish and threw it back in. 

Ryuji had a wicked grin on his face, the idea of Akechi’s refined palate smelling day or week old wish, nose curling in disgust, was enough to make him cheer up. 

“Ahh, but speaking of Akechi.” Ryuji propped his leg up, his bad one. “That bastards’ coming over tomorrow yeah.”

“Don’t remind me.” You sighed.  
“What? I thought you of all people would be happy yeah?”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“Well I’m just saying he’s your boyfrien- oi, hey!” Ryuji put his arms up in defense as you threw leftover dirt in the Styrofoam bait container at him. He scuttled off of his crate, shaking dirt from him. 

“Ah fuck- dammit it’s down my shirt!”

You shook your head, flustered, Akira was just laughing.   
“Want to get mulch down your shirt as well Akira?”  
“You wouldn’t.”  
“I would- but I just ran out using it on him.” You guested to Ryuji who was knelt down by the edge scooping water in his hands. 

“Okay okay, I’m sorry.” The blond reclaimed his plastic seat, putting his arms up in truce. “You two are so buddy buddy though, Haru thought the two of you were dating when she first joined.”

“I’ve just known Akechi for a while, that’s all.” You huffed, “He’s not romantically attracted to me anyways.”

“Mhhm that’s what the always sa- ” He stopped mid sentence, seeing you  getting into attack mode again. 

“Where did you meet Akechi anyways?” He asked, too curious to let the topic slide.

“You don’t know?” Akira asked, suprised.

“Nah, just always assumed they got to know each-other through business shit like Makoto inviting him to the festival, until I found out you’ve known each-other longer.”

“It was one of his first times being on T.V” You said, knowing you’d be here all night if you didn’t say so otherwise. “Before any of this ‘Prince Detective’ shit was happening. I was working part-time assisting with tasks, getting water, food, making sure papers were in order. Normally workers like me wouldn’t be allowed to talk to a person like him but after he kept coming back he started talking to me. Though I guess it was just to be nice, I don’t know…since I worked there he requested my number and I wasn’t in a position to say no.”

“Romantic.” Ryuji mocked . “Love at first sigh.” He absolutely detested Akechi, and was always salty whenever time was taken from you to talk to him. He was just protective, you had basically been the first one to help Ryuji out at Shujin, it was understandable that he had wanted to protect you. 

“Oh lay off Ryuji,” Akira reeled his line in, packing it away before turning to you “And I think he has the right to dirty talk Akechi, seeing as he’s in the middle of blackmailing us - we’re all a little frazzled after this week.”

He stacked his tackle box away, leaving you to bite your lip. “Do you think the reward announcement was caused by Akechi?” You asked your leader, he didn’t even freeze in his movements,kicking the crates back together in a clump. “I don’t think he caused it, but it’s suspicious.” 

“Obviously,” Ryuji mumbled.

“Come on,” Akira nodded towards the exit, “Let’s get something to eat.”

“Please don’t let it be Big Bang Burger.” Ryuji groaned. 

“After Haru? No.” Akira furrowed his brow, dropping off his fishing gear at the entrance, thanking the man before jogging to meet up with the two of your.”

“Let’s go to Mc Donald’s.”

—-

The time on your phone read 12:34 am, just as Ryuji set down one (of two) trays of food. 

“Oh man,” he moaned, rubbing his hands, “This looks so good.”

Akira sat down next, opposite to you and beside Ryuji in the booth, carrying the next tray. 

You blinked, “…What exactly did you get-”

“Probably a quarter of the whole menu.”

“ _Jesus Christ-!_ ”

“We’re teenagers, it’s past midnight and we’re the only people in this restaurant, of course we’re gonna get a shit-ton of food!” 

“I trusted you guys and you’ve back stabbed me.” Your voice was laced with sarcasm, a bit of glee and adrenaline rushing through you at the spread of food.

“So as they say in France-  _Bon Apetite._ ” Ryuji clapped his hands together, before diving in and gobbling down a big mac.

Akira himself opened up a cheeseburger, eating slowly and maliciously, even though he could probably eat 4 burgers at once (You’ve seen him do it himself before.)

You shook your head, beginning to eat as well. 

“Oh right, has Mishima texted ya, dude?” ryuji asked, though bites of meat. “Y’know, about the whole announcement thing?” 

“Yeah, he hasn’t stopped.” Akira sighed. “I had to mute my phone just to get some peace.”

“Sometimes I worry, it seems like Mishima is more invested in the phantom thieves than the phantom thieves are themselves.”

Akira shrugged, Ryuji nodded in agreement. “Mishima man, mishima.” 

“You do have to give him credit- he’s a good person with good intentions, and usually, reliable.”

“Uness it’s dealing with anyone of the opposite sex or maids.” Ryuji snickered.

“Maids?” You questioned, reaching over to take a brownie from a bag.

“Oh, fuck, uh.” Ryuji turned to Akira for help, who immediately threw him under the bus. “Your fault, your turn to tell the story.”

“No it’s okay, I think… I have an idea.” Ryuji shuffled nervously, shoving the rest of his burger in his mouth while Akira gave a sheepish smile.

“There’s a difference between the meaning “boys will be boys” and sexual desire.” not that you’d think they’d do anything non-consensual, but you’d be damned if they didn’t have those thoughts. “Speaking of which how’s the relationship going for you Akira?”

“Imagine that, the student council president and the criminal on probation bonenin’.” Ryuji smiled, nudging the male next to him with his shoulder. 

Akira rolled his eyes, yet smiled as he slipped three fries (with no ketchup, “How do you not like Ketchup dude?!” Ryuji had shouted in agony) “It’s good, really good.”

“Like third base good? Or-”

“I think we should talk about this elsewhere, Ryuji” he sighed.

“Aw.” You pouted. While it did intrigue you, Makoto would flip if she found out, but at the same time there was no way she would ever tell the girls about the private sequences that occurred in the attic of LeBlanc. 

The talk of relationships made your mind drift back to the thought of Goro, the chestnut brown hair, overflowing charisma that made butterflies pop up, not because you were charmed, but entranced with the show he put on for the public, and it made you want more.

You slapped the warm thought before it could grow, grinding up a fry between your teeth.

“We haven’t really shown any PDA, and apart from the occasional trips to the arcade or the spying secions on students- we don’t go on dates.”

“Speaking of which,” Ryuji interupted, “That chick- eriko was it? Did you guys finally find prove that her ‘boyfriend’ was a sack of shit?”

Akira nodded, “Yeah, a few weeks ago…it was that day actually that we got together.” though he didn’t look happy about it, nor sad. You stared it at, entranced. He noticed you looking and twitched a bit.

“Man you just don’t waste any time.”  
“I can’t really afford to, seeing as I’m leaving next April.”

Ah, right.

A awlkward silence stretched out for a few seconds, no one wanting to even think about Akira leaving- or what would possibly happen to the Phantom Theives if this issue wasn’t resolved by then.

“Hey man, focus on the now, and the fact that we’re meeting with Goro Akechi tomorrow.” Ryuji finally said.

“Yeah, sounds good man.” Akira smiled.

You let yourself get lost with their conversations, the three of you for once getting the chance to act like normal teenagers, the part of the day where you could forget about being a phantom thief and just worry about living. Not that you hated being a thief, it was just…well, shitty, how teenagers had to clean up the mess that adults made, it pissed you off.

By the time you guys decided to leave it the food was long gone, and the night darker than ever. 

“It’ll be daylight in a few hours.” Akira hummed, rubbing under his eyes, pushing his glasses up.

“Yeah, don’t really wanna go anywhere though.” Ryuji sighed.

“The trains are closed for the night, our best bet is to just head back after this.” 

“Yeah yeah, I know…doesn’t change my mind though…” 

“You’re the one half asleep Ryuji.” You laughed.

“Mhhm …yeah…”

“Come on.” Akira half dragged and half lead Ryuji out the door, discarding the trash as he went. “You guys can rest at LeBlanc’s until the sun comes up.

“Sounds good to me.” You all stumbled through the glass door of Mc Donalds, and into the neon-lit streets of Tokyo.

The walk home was, very nice, to say the least. Everything seemed to be relaxing, soft glows from neon lights and streetlights guided you back through the winding streets and alleys. On the main roads there was the soft chatter of electronic music, a mix of calming jazzes and base thumping into your ears. It made you feel warm, and right, but there was a oddness to it, almost like the calm before a storm. You had a feeling why.

The wind kicked up, cooling your arms and ruffling your shirt, looking up the stars were invisible, the haze from the crowded city overpowering it. You stopped , the sight was oddly breathtaking.

You wanted Goro to be there, to hold your hand, to just smile and put hair behind his ear, hand clutching his briefcase or maybe not. You craved him.

Goro, Goro.

You wondered, if Akira’s smile back in the dinner, had been similar to that of Goro’s.


	4. update

hello school is making me work really hard and at the same time i've fell a bit out of persona 5 and writing in general so the fic is postponed until i get creativity or osmething else happens im sorry yall

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos, feedback and comments are always appreciated !


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